Quenching apparatus



Jan. 20, 1953 Q. M. BLooM QUENCHING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 4, 1945 quenching@ wo'rlrirriinedattieV shapedv walls-Hand Patented Jan. 20, .1953

ifgiiiiieiionfhugutf4, 1945,."seriaiNmfcoaazo (elitair-51525) In accordance itfi "iny '-invent'ion, successive th'eyemergefro'r'n a' ing fluid discharged om Ward 'and 'against 'tHe'entiIe-pripheralsurface of successive p'o'rtions of 'the 'Workmovingrrela- :tive thereto. I l y 'In effecting Tcooling; and quenching nof work V'Whichis fhin'gmoved in horizontal direction, it 'is undesirable f-.tfo conxelthequenchingy lfluid iresulting in nonurlifvormfc'oolingof 'the work. v-In Ordr't'o' avoid Yc'onnement:of lthe'quenchingfu'id at theregionfat whichlit'isapple'dfto'the work, the quenchingfluid yis directedzatffarrff acute angle "to thel Workl surface; and in fa direetionfronr the vregion "at 'which'A heatingoffthe Work is effected.

v Not only does this -peru-rit..the f-.quenching lfluid to pass rapidly :from the workffsurfaces AY-against which it is directed; vbut theseueralirowsof Atiny .Streams dispvsedeigsde-0f, 39.21 Othernh directin vof n movement of :the work act against than iwhe'n the* streamsae 'normal to "thework surfaces.

Fig. 2 is anend'yiew ofthe quench'headfpartyshown most vclearlyinYvii-ig. v-3, fthe'qunch head 44 comprises-"ga hollow lring-or fannular- 'Oppositedixteqtionsftf'nt'fY' The Wall 41 is provided with a multiphcity of 'supplied to the'T quench lhead *44; he connected in bthe conduit 55 ltofregulate -the -pressureat which the quenchingA uid isr delivered small 'apertures 'r'crieniugst itlcuhwhich 'a quenching fluid is discharged "from Ia jhaniher the wan 4s the meniberlas rprtv,ieeewithA an annular vslot 5I which communicates with fthe chamber 5U and aflord'saccess to *the'fla'tter for cleaning the apertures "49 and rexnovi'ngiforign mattei tending Vto r'accriml'ate"v'vthi'n "therhe'mb'ei 45. A flat annular-shaped plate 52 is remova'lily secured -by cap schreit/s 53 to the face @of lme'xnber shown) --rnay be providedfbttvee'nthe-rilate F52 'enlarged l-b'oss ls-4 'hav-mg lfa trirfeadedopenrrig therein to receivers, 'e'enuuitfss entrenan iwhieha formed with :lugs 51 'wh'ich vreceive fand pvlsition enlarged bosses 58 secured at 59 in any suitable manner, -as by WeldingfOreXampleftb the' outer cylindrical face of'the'fmemberi. .'Thefbossesfi are providedon lthezmerrrber*vitto facilitate securing the quenchfhead 44 l"in'position von -a bedplate 2 0,15 and: sutabl'eeadjustments Aare.provided so that theiquenchq-head 44 fcan k'be'accurately aligned with Work `VI5 passingthrough Lit.;

In the venihoclirnent illustrated this..,;is:acco1n plished Ahy removably securing the yflanged ends .60 of horizontally `disposed"brackets 6I byfcap screws 62 to -the'ioutergsurfa'ces of-"the `bosses 58.

The brackets Share vformecvilwith- Iopenings .3 through' which extend Yupwardly extending arms 64 having "the lower ends thereof'ixetl to a cross 'bar 65. Th'e'a'rmstd and 'cross har" 65'c`ons'titute a supportingiframe vfor the. 'quench' hadwwhich is 'mounted on 'the template -A 211 in my suitable manner (notY shown) Y Theupper endsof"meamstt are-'mmento 53 'in "brackets 6 I 'areconsidrably-vlaier i'n-size than the 'arms'6'4iextehdingtherethifough, so that the quench-head1 can/:be fshiftedf' and adjusted thedirection -o'f 1movementDf-1th`e work;

'The l'washers -61 overliey@the.peripheralfedgesi'of raised andlowered by moving 'the lock nuts 66 up and down on the vertical arms 64. This vertical adjustment of the quench head 44, coupled with the horizontal adjustment just described, provides the necessary adjustments for accurately positioning and aligning the quench head 44 with the work.

Successive longitudinal portions of the heated work are rapidly anduniformly cooled by the multiplicity of small-and tiny streams of quenching uid which are applied uniformly about the entire peripheral surface of the work. The apertures 49 through which the tiny streams of fluid are discharged are formed closely adjacent to one another and in a relatively small overall area, so that the individual streams spread upon contacting the work surfaces and merge into one another to form a solid envelop of quenching fluid to which successive longitudinal portions of the heated work are subjected. The apertures 49 are preferably of uniform cross section throughout their entire length, and the total cross sectional area of all of the apertures is less than the cross sectional area of the conduit 55 through which the quenching fluid is delivered to the quench head 44. In this way turbulence ofthe quenching fluid is avoided and tiny solid streams of fluid are produced each of which is individually applied to the peripheral surface of the work. Y Y

By applying the tiny streams of quenching fluid at an acute angle to the work in a direction of its movement, rather than normal thereto, the tendency to form a pool at the bottom part of the work is avoided. If such a pool of quenching fluid could form the bottom portion of the work might be immersed therein and non-uniform cooling of the work would result. However, by producing a compact bundle of tiny streams of quenching uid whichextends over a relatively short longitudinal distance of the work, and applying the tiny streams of fluid at an acute angle to the work in a direction of its movement, the likelihood of confining the lquenching fluid is avoided so that no poolof quenching fluid can form.

In the instant embodiment the tiny streams of quenching fluid are applied to the work in the direction of vits movement at an acute angle of approximately 35. vary and go as high as 45 and still effectively avoid confinement of the quenching fluid to prevent the formation of a pool in which the bottom portion of the work may be immersed.

By applying several rows of tiny streams of quenching fluid disposed alongside of one another at an acute angle to the work in the manner just described, the streams of fluid act agaist the work surfaces for a longer interval of time than when the streams of fluid are applied normal to the work surfaces. When the acute angle at which the tiny streams of fluid are vapplied to the work is decreased, the interval of time that the quenching uid is applied to successive longitudinal portions thereof increases. However, the difference in the velocity atl which the first and-last rows of streams ofA uid impinge the work becomes greater as the acute angle at which the streams are directed against the work become smaller. In most instances it has been found that by applying the tiny streams of quenching fluid to the work at an acute angle of from 25" to 35.vsatisfactory quenching and cooling Vis accomplished-which is rapid and unl- However, Vthis angle may form; and in such range the velocity at which the last row of streams of fluid impinges the work is sufficiently high to effect its proportionate share of the cooling of the work.

By providing the annular-shaped quench head 44 having the inner peripheral surface thereof in the form of a venturi, not only are the tiny streams of quenching fluidapplied at an acute angle to the work in the direction of its movement, but a passage is'provided for the work which is of such shape that the quench head 44- can be positioned closely adjacent to the place in which the work is heated.

In order that the improvements embodied in quench head 44 ofthe invention may be better understood, reference to a quench head which has been constructed for quenching and cooling work up to 3 in diameter may be helpful. In such a quench head generally like that illustrated and described, 'the overall diameter of the quench hea-d 44 is about ll" and the overallwidth or depth is about 4". The annular slot 5I is about 1 wide, the diameter of the throat 46 about 4, and the diameter of the row of aperatures 49 furthest removed from the throat 46 is about 8". Twelve rows of apertures le in diameter are provided along the outwardly flaring wall 41 which is about 3" long. Each row of apertures 49 is formed with forty apertures to provide Ya total of four hundred eighty apertures. Inv this instance the total overall area of the apertures is about 73% of the inlet pipe area through which quenching fluid is supplied to the quench head.

In the operation of the quench head just referred to when water is employed as the quenching medium, the water is supplied at a delivery pressure of about 30 pounds per square inch. Even when suitable strainers are provided in the water supplyv line, foreign matter will tend to accumulate or clog the apertures 49. With such a large number of apertures provided, the fact that some of the apertures may become clogged is not too serious because the delivery pressure of the quenching fluid can be increased when this becomes noticeable without adversely affecting the rapid cooling and quenching of work. Moreover, by providing the annularshaped member having the slot 5I, the back plate 52 can be removed and easy access is afforded to the chamber 50 to remove any foreign matter therein and clean the apertures 49. The member 45 is preferably cast in a single piece and provides a simple and inexpensive quench head which is reliable in operation.

In view of the foregoing, it should now be apparent that an improvement has been provided for quenching and cooling heated work, especially workbeing moved horizontally past a region of heating. The quench head 44 can be adjusted both vertically and horizontally in a plane transverse to the movement of the work so that it can be accurately positioned and aligned with the work.

Although a single embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Thus, suitable mechanism may be provided whereby the horizontal and vertical acljustments of the quench v head may be accomplished by a simple turning movement of cranks or levers. It is therefore contemplated to cover all modifications and changes which come within the spirit of the invention, as pointed out in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A quench head comprising means forming an annular-shaped hollow structure provided with an inlet for -a quenching fluid and through which elongated work is adapted to pass continuously, the inner peripheral surface of said structure including a conical-shaped wall Haring outwardly in the direction of movement of work through the head, said wall being perforated with a plurality of rows of openings for discharging quenching uid from the interior of said structure onto successive longitudinal portions of the Work at an acute angle thereto in the direction of movement of the work, a frame on which said structure is mounted, and means for adjusting said structure on said frame in a number of different directions in a plane transverse to the direction of movement of the work.

2. A quench head comprising means forming an annular-shaped hollow structure provided with an inlet adapted to be connected to a source of supply of quenching uid and through which work of elongated extent is adapted to pass continuously in a generally horizontal direction, said means including a detachably secured member to afford access to the interior of the structure, the inner peripheral surface of said structure being perforated for discharging quenching iluid from the interior of said structure onto successive longitudinal surface portions of the work, a frame on which said structure is mounted, and

means associated with said frame for adjusting said structure up and down and sidewise in a plane transverse to the direction of movement of the Work whereby it may be positioned perpendicular thereto.

QUENTIN M. BLOOM.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 392,082 Turner Oct. 30, 1888 447,634 Cosby Mar. 3, 1891 615,012 Britton Nov. 29, 1898 689,060 Britton Dec. 17, 1901 716,277 Reichhelm Dec. 16, 1902 1,290,561 Jackman Jan. 7, 1919 1,303,252 Brussard May 13, 1919 1,698,858 Smith Jan. 15, 1929 1,790,756 Lowery Feb. 3, 1931 2,057,582 McKean et al Oct. 13, 1936 2,067,436 Coberly Jan 12, 1937 2,249,219 Nairn et al July 15, 1941 2,268,029 Fearn Dec. 30, 1941 2,271,379 Statz et al Jan. 27, 1942 2,307,694 Malke Jan. 5, 1943 2,310,984 Mock Feb. 16, 1943 2,325,342 Pursel July 27, 1943 2,329,188 Denneen et al Sept. 14, 1943 2,376,515 Somes May 22, 1945 2,394,514 Evans et al Feb. 5, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 150,860 Austria Oct. 11, 1937 469,383 Great Britain July 23, 1937 470,330 Great Britain Aug. 12, 1937 

